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The Antlion Soldier is a four legged creature around three to five feet in height and six feet from head to tail. Antlions' legs are arranged oddly, with their back legs set at their front, and vice versa. Their hard shells are mostly green with stripes of tan, yellow, purple and red. They have no visible eyes, and have three mouthparts arranged in a triangle on their face. Hidden beneath the Antlions' shells are wings which allow it to fly several feet in the air, making a loud buzzing noise as they take to the air. They are also quite powerful burrowers, able to tunnel through solid rock and even concrete.

Antlion Soldiers are charged with gathering food for their nests, using their keen sense of touch to track their prey. Once they pinpoint a potential meal, they swarm the target relentlessly, biting and headbutting their prey until dead, after which they return to their nests with their kill to feed their hungry brood.

Antlions are vicious pack predators. Their favored method of accosting prey is to bury themselves in soft sand, sense for vibrations around them, then emerge and ambush the intruder. They usually form swarms so large that even a well-armed opponent will be quickly overwhelmed. Although they are blind they are extremely sensitive to vibration, which allows them to follow their enemies wherever they go once detected. This sensitivity can be turned against them; Thumpers, machines which pound the ground rhythmically, overload their senses causing them discomfort and preventing them from advancing on prey near them.

Antlions attack with their sharp claws and teeth. Those fleeing on foot or seeking higher ground will find no sanctuary from them; they will fly at opponents above or a distance away from them. They will fearlessly attack and pursue their target regardless of hazards they are faced with, and will continue charging even as fellow Antlions die in front of them. This includes charging into moving vehicles and into water, despite the fact they cannot swim. Antlions are both fiercely territorial and invasive. They will sweep into neighboring territory if it is not properly protected.

Common Antlions seem to defer overall leadership to Antlion Guards, who direct them through the use of pheromones. Harvesting Pheropods (through an unhygienic extraction method practiced by Vortigaunts) from the body of an Antlion Guard will allow a user to control the common Antlions. Users can command Antlions to follow by squeezing the pod. The user can also make Antlions move to a certain spot by throwing one of the pods to that spot. These pods do not work on Antlion Guardians.

Antlions make excellent shock troops. Once a pod is thrown, they will charge at an incredible speed and take out whoever is in the immediate vicinity of where the pod landed. The Antlions can kill Combine Soldiers in one hit, and seem to be able to take more damage than those not directed through the use of a pheromone pod. Any fallen Soldier is quickly replaced by a healthy and ready to battle Antlion.

Antlions are always encountered in numbers of three or more. Often once one has been killed, another will emerge from sand or a burrow. It is advised to keep distance from these creatures, as their melee attacks are quite powerful, and will cause the player to flinch, making their weapon aim awry.

Antlions are commonly encountered along with Zombies, and, if left alone, will fight each other.

Antlions can be knocked over with the Gravity Gun, temporary immobilizing them, and exposing their more vulnerable undersides. The player can take advantage of this by switching to a secondary weapon, most preferably the shotgun, to finish them off. It is possible to kill an Antlion by punting them repeatedly with the Gravity Gun, though it takes many hits and is not a practical form of attack. Antlions will drown if lured into water by the player.

If the player has Pheropods, and the way is blocked by Sentry Guns or Combine Soldiers, Antlions can be used as a distraction. They also make very good area testers. Pheropods can be thrown ahead if an area seems to be dangerous. Since Antlions run straight through laser tripmines, they can help clear the explosives.

The name "Antlion Soldier" is not given in any official source; it was merely chosen on the wiki to easily differentiate the common Antlion to the others, based on the similarities with the names given to the different real world ant classes and their related purposes.

The original Antlion skin was orange and had butterfly-like spots on its wings.

As suggested in press releases, stepping on Grubs in Episode Two was to make the Antlions spawn. Valve removed the feature believing it would make the game too hard and that the Antlion Grub's health nugget mechanic would be rarely beneficial.